I was so excited to see Jamaica! We did not get to see much of it. Our excursion to the green grotto was over 30 minutes away, we were on a tour bus. The scenery was from the highway and most of it were buildings and houses trashed by the hurricane. It was very sad. Our tour guide was very chatty, like most of them, but he taught us some Jamaican words. “Yea Man” (Yes) and “icky, icky” (No).

The green grotto was underground and so was our tour. I was so thankful that I changed my mind about my skirt and wore my jean shorts and a cool blouse. Because the steps that went deep into the cave were mismatched with each other. The passageway was not made for tourists, but for copper miners. The deeper we went down the more trouble I had with the stairs.

And, the heat. Caves were supposed to be cool, even cold. Right? Not this one. All of us were drenched with sweat, huffing and puffing. I worried about Bruce’s heart and he worried I would fall. Apparently, so did one of the tour staff because he kept asking me if I was okay and he let me take his arm when there were no handrails. The grotto was very awesome, but not worth all those horrifying stairs in the dark.

I suspected we would have to climb back up the same stairs and I was right. Climbing stairs is easier than coming down them – usually. But now we are tired, hot, and thirsty. It was torcher. I put a note in the suggestion box that the tour be rated ‘intermediate’ and NOT ‘Easy’. Managed to take a few pix along the way…

The moment our tour group returned to Mars, the ship departed. They had waited for us, since we were like 15 minutes late.

Stay tuned…